Saturday, January 22, 2011

I spent the day today creating more 12 inch blocks for the online exchange. I am having fun making blocks with fabric I like and trying out different blocks. The top two were made with more fall colors, and I have enough fabric left to make a small quilt. I like this block, but I will play with the fabric layout some more. The bottom two are made with more civil war era prints. I did some strip piecing, and used them in two different ways. It is hard to see in the photograph that there are five rows in the stripped part. I am not sure I really like the dark brown on the bottom right, but it is growing on me. Maybe if I used it as inner strips with lighter outer strips, I would like it better. Actually, I do like it better on the wall than on the computer. I have one more to go before they all go in the mail.

I have received three blocks from other members of the exchange. Now that I have started this, I am not sure what I will do with the blocks from others. These three are very different from anything I would make. All are well made. I like each one for different reasons. I think I could make table runners out of them, not together of course. I will have to dig through my stash and see what I can find that will go with them. If any of you participate in block exchanges where you get individual blocks from different quilters, what do you do with them?

Friday, January 21, 2011

Today, I did some fusible applique for a presentation quilt for a guild member. I did not photograph those yet. They are Scottie dogs with plaid blankets. Cute, if you like that sort of thing. I also made this 12 inch block for an online block exchange. The colors didn't show up perfectly, but this is close. I actually used the reverse side of the fabric with the large circles because the circles showed up better. The black is not as dark as it looks in this photo, but it is close. I was going for modern, sophisticated. The block was very easy, and I like how it turned out. I think I may make some other blocks like this for myself.The other thing I did today was finish the top for the D9P. I did a little piecing on the inner border to add interest. I am very happy with it. I have to piece the back together because the fabric I am using is not quite big enough. I have designed something fun to do to make it bigger, and attractive at the same time. I may get this on the quilt frame by Monday, meeting the timeline I set for myself.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

This is what my new design wall looks like today. I am very happy with the size and the holding power of the felt/flannel.

I spend a good long day in the studio today working on the D9P and my intuition quilt. I got all the 9 patches done, cut, rearranged, and sewn together. Then, I cut the sash pieces, put together the rows, and celebrated with a piece of dark chocolate. I really love the colors in this quilt. I wanted to use a darker sashing. At first, I was going to use a solid brown, but an end of bolt piece of paisley jumped out at me. I has dark brown, golds, greens, and oranges. What could be more perfect. I am going to add a border of this paisley, then a lighter border of a gold tone. It appears I have broken some rules here of combining traditional patterned fabric with modern prints with batik. I didn't know there were rules about this sort of thing, and I am glad. I just look at the colors and see if they will go well together. I've never been much of a purist in art. Below is a detail so you can see the sash.

I have been looking at my intuition quilt for a few days without getting back to it. I decided to add a light border around the focal square, and then add the flying geese to two sides. I used the light fabric because I thought the quilt needed a place to rest your eyes between busy units. I find that I think about adding things I really like to this quilt. I am going to make some house blocks because I enjoying being at home, or in someone else's house. I am also going to make some applique bird blocks because I really like wild birds. I may even stick in a sunflower or two, and definitely some moons and stars. There will also be more wonky blocks like the center, only smaller. I think this may take me a while, but I am enjoying where it is going.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I had a very busy day in the studio today, and got a lot done. I finished piecing 12 of the 16 nine patch blocks for Mary Ann's quilt. I just had to cut them up and get them on the design wall. Of course, I had to go buy a new design wall because my two small ones were filled. I am loving the colors of this quilt. It is primarily batiks I have collected over time, some left over fabric I had from Moda's Tranquility line, and a wonderful piece of purple fabric, also from Moda. I found some rich warm brownish paisley for sashing and borders. On Thursday, when I get back into the studio, I will finish up the last four nine patch squares, cut them up, add them to the wall, and start to cut and sew the new blocks together. I have designed this so there won't be any seams to match, at least not too many.

I also got all the strip units sewn and cut for the bonus grab bag quilt. There will be 30 5 inch squares. I am going to add sashing and borders to make this a comfortable lap quilt. I think there may be enough fabric in the bag to complete the top.

I have quilt guild tonight. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and hearing what everyone got over the holidays that is quilt related . We also get our new block of the month, and make some decisions about other projects we may want to continue or not. I am hoping we continue the mystery quilt, but I will have to wait and see until this evening.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

I am a sucker for grab bags. When I was a kid, I used to save my allowance to by the sealed brown paper bags and the five and dime. I guess that dates me, but I don't know what the equivalent would be today. Anyway, I savored the moment that I got the bag home to open it. The other day, when I went to Pieces, I looked through the grab bags, which were clear, and came up with two of them. I paid $2.25 for each. Today, I opened the first one and was totally surprised. Some wonderful person had thrown in all the leftovers from a wonderful, I am guessing, quilt project. After some calculation, I figured out I have enough fabric in strips and squares to make a wonderful lap quilt. I did some sewing of strips, and put together one of the 30 blocks. The inside squares will all be the same. There are five different fabrics for the smaller squares. I will do sashing with the light. There is enough of the print fabric to do cornerstones in the sashing. Don't know if I will do it, but I am thinking about it. I am pretty excited about my $2.25 quilt.